GPS Students Read Banned Books

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Beloved by Toni Morrison, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Animal Farm by George Orwell have been censored in the past as violent, obscene, sinful, profane, and Communist. These books are also either on suggested GPS summer reading lists or are studied in English classes.

In conjunction with the American Library Association, the GPS librarians are celebrating Banned Books Week Sept. 22-28, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. According to the ALA, the week “brings together the entire book community…in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”

Interactive tablescapes in the Holland Library invite students to recognize books that have been challenged or banned. By lifting paper bags with the offensive traits of the books listed down the sides, students can discover the very books that the Holland Library has on its shelves and that decades of GPS girls have read – classics like The Grapes of Wrath, Brave New World, and As I Lay Dying alongside Newbery Award winners like Bridge to Terabithia and The Giver.

As the late playwright (The Women) Clare Boothe Luce said, “Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there."

Cleveland City Schools will honor the Cleveland Board of Education and City Council on Monday at 7:15 p.m. in Raider Arena. The undefeated Raiders host the Alcoa Tornadoes starting at 7:30 pm. The Lady Raiders tip off at 6 p.m. Board members and Councilmen will be recognized between games. Director of Schools Dr. Russell Dyer, Cleveland High School Principal Autumn O’Bryan, ... (click for more)

Lee University welcomed carolers from Arnold Elementary School choir on Tuesday as part of the B.E.S.T. Partners program. The elementary students performed Christmas carols in the Deacon Jones Dining Hall during the Lee student, staff and faculty lunch break. Lunch was provided for the elementary students, courtesy of Sodexo Dining Services. The B. E. S. T. program is ... (click for more)

Rev. Lurone Jennings, administrator of City Youth and Family Development, has been suspended for one week for misallocation of funds. He also is to be issued a letter of reprimand and will undergo ethics training. The action came after a critical audit report from City Auditor Stan Sewell. It says Mr. Jennings transferred $18,500 of funds to a program, Journey Educational ... (click for more)

Walker County Sole Commissioner-Elect Shannon Whitfield said there will be a new arrangement for holding of public commissioner sessions when he takes place at the start of January. Current Commissioner Bebe Heiskell has held Thursday meetings at 3:30 p.m. from time to time in a conference room at her office near the Walker County Courthouse in LaFayette. Mr. Whitfield said those ... (click for more)

Spreading false information isn't only harmful, as we've been made aware recently. The spread of false information can be outright dangerous. Calling himself a Christian and all, Roy truly disappoints on so many levels with his recently opinion piece about black students attending predominately white schools being the cause of so much problems and grief at those schools. ... (click for more)

The Pants Store, a toney women’s boutique in Birmingham’s Mountain Book community, held its annual Holiday Open House about a week or so and, as usual, the popular store was full of customers and holiday cheer. It was a festive gathering, fun for all, but as store employees cleaned up for the next day, they happened across an empty designer-shoe box and a brassiere somebody had ... (click for more)